New to Grilling? Avoid These Common Novice Mistakes

Posted on Dec 2, 2017 12:00pm PST

Cooking on a grill is an excellent way to take your outdoor entertainment
skills to the next level. If you recently bought your first
grill near San Jose and are eager to show off your newest backyard accessory to family and
guests this season, then keep reading to learn about some common mistakes
that novice grillers make.

Waiting to Prep

Waiting until your grill is hot and the meat is cooking to begin slicing
up vegetables and readying other ingredients can be a recipe for frustration
and charred food. To have a better chance of grilling like a pro, prepare
all your sauces, ingredients, and grilling accessories before you light
the grill.

Starting Too Soon

Another common mistake that new grillers make is to place the food on the
grill before it heats up. To help prevent food from sticking to the grate,
practice patience and wait until your grill is nice and hot before adding
your steaks and burgers.

Building One Fire

While a single, large area of flames may look impressive, creating a single
heated area to grill over can lead to uneven cooking and poor results.
For this reason, to get your new grilling hobby off to a good start, remember
to create multiple cooking zones that provide a more even heat source
for your food.

Adding Too Much

Next on the list of common errors that novice grillers make is putting
too much food on the grill at one time. Again, having patience will prove
valuable for evading this mistake, and it should indeed be avoided as
a crowded grill can make it more difficult to check and attend to each
steak that’s over the flames.

Using Lighter Fluid

After the effort that you put into preparing your ingredients and gathering
your grilling accessories, the last thing you want is to end up with food
that smells of lighter fluid. For this reason, if you’re using a
charcoal grill, then consider lighting the coals with a chimney starter
or newspaper, instead.